Public Act 93-0085
HB0293 Enrolled LRB093 03447 MKM 03473 b
AN ACT in relation to senior citizens.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Illinois Act on the Aging is amended by
changing Section 4.02 as follows:
(20 ILCS 105/4.02) (from Ch. 23, par. 6104.02)
Sec. 4.02. The Department shall establish a program of
services to prevent unnecessary institutionalization of
persons age 60 and older in need of long term care or who are
established as persons who suffer from Alzheimer's disease or
a related disorder under the Alzheimer's Disease Assistance
Act, thereby enabling them to remain in their own homes or in
other living arrangements. Such preventive services, which
may be coordinated with other programs for the aged and
monitored by area agencies on aging in cooperation with the
Department, may include, but are not limited to, any or all
of the following:
(a) home health services;
(b) home nursing services;
(c) homemaker services;
(d) chore and housekeeping services;
(e) day care services;
(f) home-delivered meals;
(g) education in self-care;
(h) personal care services;
(i) adult day health services;
(j) habilitation services;
(k) respite care;
(l) other nonmedical social services that may
enable the person to become self-supporting; or
(m) clearinghouse for information provided by
senior citizen home owners who want to rent rooms to or
share living space with other senior citizens.
The Department shall establish eligibility standards for
such services taking into consideration the unique economic
and social needs of the target population for whom they are
to be provided. Such eligibility standards shall be based on
the recipient's ability to pay for services; provided,
however, that in determining the amount and nature of
services for which a person may qualify, consideration shall
not be given to the value of cash, property or other assets
held in the name of the person's spouse pursuant to a written
agreement dividing marital property into equal but separate
shares or pursuant to a transfer of the person's interest in
a home to his spouse, provided that the spouse's share of the
marital property is not made available to the person seeking
such services.
Beginning July 1, 2002, the Department shall require as a
condition of eligibility that all financially eligible
applicants and recipients apply for medical assistance under
Article V of the Illinois Public Aid Code in accordance with
rules promulgated by the Department.
The Department shall, in conjunction with the Department
of Public Aid, seek appropriate amendments under Sections
1915 and 1924 of the Social Security Act. The purpose of the
amendments shall be to extend eligibility for home and
community based services under Sections 1915 and 1924 of the
Social Security Act to persons who transfer to or for the
benefit of a spouse those amounts of income and resources
allowed under Section 1924 of the Social Security Act.
Subject to the approval of such amendments, the Department
shall extend the provisions of Section 5-4 of the Illinois
Public Aid Code to persons who, but for the provision of home
or community-based services, would require the level of care
provided in an institution, as is provided for in federal
law. Those persons no longer found to be eligible for
receiving noninstitutional services due to changes in the
eligibility criteria shall be given 60 days notice prior to
actual termination. Those persons receiving notice of
termination may contact the Department and request the
determination be appealed at any time during the 60 day
notice period. With the exception of the lengthened notice
and time frame for the appeal request, the appeal process
shall follow the normal procedure. In addition, each person
affected regardless of the circumstances for discontinued
eligibility shall be given notice and the opportunity to
purchase the necessary services through the Community Care
Program. If the individual does not elect to purchase
services, the Department shall advise the individual of
alternative services. The target population identified for
the purposes of this Section are persons age 60 and older
with an identified service need. Priority shall be given to
those who are at imminent risk of institutionalization. The
services shall be provided to eligible persons age 60 and
older to the extent that the cost of the services together
with the other personal maintenance expenses of the persons
are reasonably related to the standards established for care
in a group facility appropriate to the person's condition.
These non-institutional services, pilot projects or
experimental facilities may be provided as part of or in
addition to those authorized by federal law or those funded
and administered by the Department of Human Services. The
Departments of Human Services, Public Aid, Public Health,
Veterans' Affairs, and Commerce and Community Affairs and
other appropriate agencies of State, federal and local
governments shall cooperate with the Department on Aging in
the establishment and development of the non-institutional
services. The Department shall require an annual audit from
all chore/housekeeping and homemaker vendors contracting with
the Department under this Section. The annual audit shall
assure that each audited vendor's procedures are in
compliance with Department's financial reporting guidelines
requiring a 27% administrative cost split and a 73% employee
wages and benefits cost split. The audit is a public record
under the Freedom of Information Act. The Department shall
execute, relative to the nursing home prescreening project,
written inter-agency agreements with the Department of Human
Services and the Department of Public Aid, to effect the
following: (1) intake procedures and common eligibility
criteria for those persons who are receiving
non-institutional services; and (2) the establishment and
development of non-institutional services in areas of the
State where they are not currently available or are
undeveloped. On and after July 1, 1996, all nursing home
prescreenings for individuals 60 years of age or older shall
be conducted by the Department.
The Department is authorized to establish a system of
recipient copayment for services provided under this Section,
such copayment to be based upon the recipient's ability to
pay but in no case to exceed the actual cost of the services
provided. Additionally, any portion of a person's income
which is equal to or less than the federal poverty standard
shall not be considered by the Department in determining the
copayment. The level of such copayment shall be adjusted
whenever necessary to reflect any change in the officially
designated federal poverty standard.
The Department, or the Department's authorized
representative, shall recover the amount of moneys expended
for services provided to or in behalf of a person under this
Section by a claim against the person's estate or against the
estate of the person's surviving spouse, but no recovery may
be had until after the death of the surviving spouse, if any,
and then only at such time when there is no surviving child
who is under age 21, blind, or permanently and totally
disabled. This paragraph, however, shall not bar recovery,
at the death of the person, of moneys for services provided
to the person or in behalf of the person under this Section
to which the person was not entitled; provided that such
recovery shall not be enforced against any real estate while
it is occupied as a homestead by the surviving spouse or
other dependent, if no claims by other creditors have been
filed against the estate, or, if such claims have been filed,
they remain dormant for failure of prosecution or failure of
the claimant to compel administration of the estate for the
purpose of payment. This paragraph shall not bar recovery
from the estate of a spouse, under Sections 1915 and 1924 of
the Social Security Act and Section 5-4 of the Illinois
Public Aid Code, who precedes a person receiving services
under this Section in death. All moneys for services paid to
or in behalf of the person under this Section shall be
claimed for recovery from the deceased spouse's estate.
"Homestead", as used in this paragraph, means the dwelling
house and contiguous real estate occupied by a surviving
spouse or relative, as defined by the rules and regulations
of the Illinois Department of Public Aid, regardless of the
value of the property.
The Department shall develop procedures to enhance
availability of services on evenings, weekends, and on an
emergency basis to meet the respite needs of caregivers.
Procedures shall be developed to permit the utilization of
services in successive blocks of 24 hours up to the monthly
maximum established by the Department. Workers providing
these services shall be appropriately trained.
Beginning on the effective date of this Amendatory Act of
1991, no person may perform chore/housekeeping and homemaker
services under a program authorized by this Section unless
that person has been issued a certificate of pre-service to
do so by his or her employing agency. Information gathered
to effect such certification shall include (i) the person's
name, (ii) the date the person was hired by his or her
current employer, and (iii) the training, including dates and
levels. Persons engaged in the program authorized by this
Section before the effective date of this amendatory Act of
1991 shall be issued a certificate of all pre- and in-service
training from his or her employer upon submitting the
necessary information. The employing agency shall be
required to retain records of all staff pre- and in-service
training, and shall provide such records to the Department
upon request and upon termination of the employer's contract
with the Department. In addition, the employing agency is
responsible for the issuance of certifications of in-service
training completed to their employees.
The Department is required to develop a system to ensure
that persons working as homemakers and chore housekeepers
receive increases in their wages when the federal minimum
wage is increased by requiring vendors to certify that they
are meeting the federal minimum wage statute for homemakers
and chore housekeepers. An employer that cannot ensure that
the minimum wage increase is being given to homemakers and
chore housekeepers shall be denied any increase in
reimbursement costs.
The Department on Aging and the Department of Human
Services shall cooperate in the development and submission of
an annual report on programs and services provided under this
Section. Such joint report shall be filed with the Governor
and the General Assembly on or before September 30 each year.
The requirement for reporting to the General Assembly
shall be satisfied by filing copies of the report with the
Speaker, the Minority Leader and the Clerk of the House of
Representatives and the President, the Minority Leader and
the Secretary of the Senate and the Legislative Research
Unit, as required by Section 3.1 of the General Assembly
Organization Act and filing such additional copies with the
State Government Report Distribution Center for the General
Assembly as is required under paragraph (t) of Section 7 of
the State Library Act.
Those persons previously found eligible for receiving
non-institutional services whose services were discontinued
under the Emergency Budget Act of Fiscal Year 1992, and who
do not meet the eligibility standards in effect on or after
July 1, 1992, shall remain ineligible on and after July 1,
1992. Those persons previously not required to cost-share
and who were required to cost-share effective March 1, 1992,
shall continue to meet cost-share requirements on and after
July 1, 1992. Beginning July 1, 1992, all clients will be
required to meet eligibility, cost-share, and other
requirements and will have services discontinued or altered
when they fail to meet these requirements.
(Source: P.A. 91-303, eff. 1-1-00; 91-798, eff. 7-9-00;
92-597, eff. 6-28-02.)